I am looking for help or ideas on types of sets to run in the mountains of the North East big timber? The agriculture fields around here are very few! What type of set? What type of locations? What lures? Any info is appreciated!

Look for intersections on any logging roads.

I feel your most important question is location. That's the key.

Locations- timber changes, logging roads, old log landings, power lines, gas lines.

Changes in timber, like a crop change in farmland. By that, Hardwoods next to a stand of Pines, Hardwoods next to dense Laurel, Swamp or open Meadow boarding Pines or Hardwoods...These timber changes are travel ways.

If you are experienced, imagine NO TREES. Look at the land. Read the contours and set where water would flow.

Charlie Dobbins once said-
SEE what you are LOOKING at.

*Billkil1187, what type of mountain ground is on your trapline?

Great advice from Hern here. Location will absolutely be the most important.

Thank you

Our big woods can be tough finding critters. Lots of places to roam, plenty of cover and plenty of water. One idea is using bait stations on good locations if legal in your state.
Maintaining bait stations can be hard work and may not be a good option with Black Bear present, just throwing that out

the hardest part about trapping hardwood hills, mountains, accepting there's just not as many coyotes as farmland

and you can't catch them if there not there, however i have had a little luck, this is what's worked for me

on stateland i look for any area thats been cut, and set the logging roads coming in, the leftover tops will hold food

ridgetops with good deer trails, as close to the road as you can, preset some baitstations if allowed

i run the same 3 sets in farmland as i do in the hills, 1 hole, 1 pipeset and 1 flat set at every location

As has already been said.

Find the good locations and the set type matters little.

I’m planning on making a trip to the Adirondacks this coming fall.. I never trapped the big woods/mountains and don’t want to be blindsided or way out of my league! Thank you for the info!

Don’t forget fisher and marten.

Don't overlook beaver dams. I usually put two sets on end of each dam plus fisher sets. I will sometimes have 8-12 sets at these locations.

I look for where a hill has slipped and started to grow back. In my area, this is usually where I find mice are. This seems to be like micro hunting grounds.

If you can and it's legal, throw some trail cams out on trails.

Every year at my deer camp I leave a few up on random trails or two-tracks all summer/winter. I move em around from year to year.

It's wild to see what all wanders down trails (or doesn't)

When talking about coyote trapping in the big woods I think of setting 2-tracks. When setting 2-tracks I suggest looking to find some videos by Matt Jones and Darwin Freeborough(now deceased), both have the experience and well done videos to give you guidance! Much of Freeborough’s trapping videos were done with deep snow cover.

Thank you guys!

I have a few of Freeboroughs videos. most of his trapping were done in the big woods. Logging roads a two tracks were used a lot. Good videos, he will be missed. He made good videos.

Roads, rows, ridges

You might read Clint Locklears “Eastern Wolfer”

I will fourth or fifth or whatever the roads/two tracks suggestion. Look for intersections, where ridges or trails cross, etc. Not sure on your laws, but if you can't trap on the roads, you will have to figure out where they are entering/leaving and set traps there. Coyotes are notoriously hard to pull except with large baits so you need to be on location.

Obviously somewhat different terrain, but I trap almost exclusively in the woods. Look for sign and set on it. A canine may use an area randomly once, but if you see tracks there twice, they will be back eventually. Populations will not be as dense as they are in other areas, so be prepared for that.

And ridges doesn't have to mean a big ol ridge. Sometimes a 3' rise that runs for a few hundred yards is all it takes. That's where they like to walk.

Key tip ^^^^

How about a story that revolves around Bearcat2 tip!
I learned to snare(2.5” deer stop) in MI in the late 90’s and I knew of many trappers that would hang dozens of snares per 40 acre section of woods. See a track-hang a snare, see a track-hang a snare, or hang a snare by shear guess! They would hang a snare anywhere they “thought” a coyote might pass. I opted for what I considered a more efficient method by doing exactly what Bearcat2 stated “if you see tracks there twice, they will be back eventually” and I killed a lot of coyotes with a handful of snares and didn’t take a backseat in my catch numbers to the folks who used a bucket full of snares!

Well in 2005 the State took away our snares with the 2.5” deer stop with new Regs calling for a 4.25” dog stop & no entanglement. I refused to use this post-2005 cable restraint because of the proven loss of a % of coyotes, so I took my principles of snaring and applied it to using foothold traps. It quickly became a great success for me in Central MI that rivaled the catch rate with the pre-2005 snares. Another huge bonus was that with snares and cable restraints a trapper could/can NOT use them on Public land but I could use my footholds. Snaring with footholds can be a wonderful thing!
End of Story!

So you are scouting in the first snow of the year?

I have seen frozen streams become travel routes for canine after they freeze up. So their travel patterns do change with the season just like any other animal.

If your on a logging Rd that's cutting like diagonal up a steepish hill everything runs the outside edge of the road overlooking the hill..

Run with that. Put sets on the side of the road they are already using..